Queensland state political reporter

Anna Bligh was premier at the time husband Greg Withers worked as director of climate change. Photo: harrisonsaragossi@gmail.com

Sometime in the 14th or 15th century, the term “nepotismo” was coined to describe the practice of illegitimate sons, passed off as nephews, being appointed to papal positions by relatives.

We know it as nepotism. And it is as contentious now as it was then.

Queensland Integrity Commissioner David Solomon has given the practice a lot of thought.

Former LNP Federal Treasurer Peter Costello was appointed by Premier Campbell Newman to lead the commission of audit for Queensland.

In a paper presented at a Thursday function for the TJ Ryan Foundation, a think tank established by Labor and the Queensland Council of Unions, Dr Solomon questioned whether it was time to examine how public appointments were made.

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“... 'Should government/political appointments be subject to parliamentary probity or scrutiny by an independent body',” he said, posing a question asked by the LNP in a submission to the Bligh government's discussion paper on integrity and accountability in 2009.

“That is already the case in relation to various integrity officers in Queensland, where the relevant parliamentary committee is involved in the appointment process.

“But it is not the case with the appointment of directors-general and other chief executives.

"If we are to permit and favourably sanction the exercise of 'good patronage' do we need to adjust the system to provide more openness and transparency, in ways such as those mentioned in the LNP submission?

“I think it's time these issues were examined and proper safeguards adopted.”

Both major parties have over the years been accused of nepotism or cronyism, the practice of appointing friends to positions.

New governments replacing existing appointees with those considered more sympathetic is not rare in modern politics.

“Such appointments have become relatively common since the Australian public services came to be managed by men and women appointed as chief executives for relatively short (five years or less) fixed terms, rather than by 'permanent' secretaries,” Dr Solomon said.

“Notoriously, when Labor's Wayne Goss became Premier in 1989, a significant number of senior officers were sent to what came to be described as the 'gulag' to work on 'special projects'.”

Dr Solomon said John Howard sacked six departmental heads upon becoming prime minister, while Tony Abbott has dismissed three, with another effectively given six months notice.

And Premier Campbell Newman dismissed seven chief executives when he took power “and others followed later”.

He did not give any recent examples, but government leaders have always been criticised for appointing those close to them – among questioned Labor appointments were Bill Ludwig to the racing board, Greg Withers, the husband of former premier Anna Bligh, as the director of climate change, and former Attorney-General Kerry Shine's appointment of “life-long friend” Damian Carroll to the bench.

The experience and qualifications of the people appointed to these positions is not being questioned.

Quoting American author Adam Bellow from his book In Praise of Nepotism, Dr Solomon raised the issue of fairness – that while someone should not be advanced because of their connections, they shouldn't be precluded either.

“... 'What is essential, however, is that an independent observer, fully informed of the facts, can conclude that the person deserved to be appointed for reasons other than the nepotistic relationship',” Mr Bellow wrote.

“'This would normally mean that the position has been opened to all, and the merits of those interested in taking it have been properly and independently assessed'.”

Dr Solomon said that approach implied nepotism was “invariable or inevitably improper or unethical”.

“It is necessary to determine the facts about its exercise in any particular case before reaching an objective conclusion about whether its exercise is wrong,” he said.

“The fact that there is a word for it does not mean that nepotism must always be condemned.”

Dr Solomon concluded the “roles and relationships of and between ministers and chief executives of the public services in Australia have changed considerable, perhaps fundamentally” over the past decades and there needed to be a discussion about how to properly deal with the issue as it stood today, and adopt safeguards to protect the public interest.

"And this may well mean that there are some circumstances in which it may be perfectly acceptable for a Premier or Prime Minister to make a patronage appointment because trust and/or commitment and/or loyalty, etc, may be just as important, or more so, as merit in delivering the best performance by government, that is, by elected and appointed officials jointly," he said.

"We may need to change the rules and/or make them more flexible."

23 comments so far

great article Amy

'Should government/political appointments be subject to parliamentary probity or scrutiny by an independent body'

yep... cause not only do they pay them a long way over the market price that these are worth.... but ms bligh, ms kate jones and mr paul lucas ... are hardly going to call for the termination of their employment contracts once everyone realises just how much they suck at their jobs

Commenter

swinging voter

Date and time

February 28, 2014, 1:22PM

Not least since Jones, Bligh and Lucas are not members of the Government. Or the Opposition.

Commenter

JRN

Location

BNE

Date and time

February 28, 2014, 2:03PM

Swinging voter, nobody could be worse than a government which has chosen to put 12,000 people out of work, could they?

Labor employed thousands of people as nurses, teachers and other frontline staff.

The LNP fired 12,000 workers. Pretty hard to top, really.

Commenter

Ross

Date and time

February 28, 2014, 3:26PM

@ross ... how about a government that uses immigration and unemployment to victimise non union protected professionals, whilst using public expenditure to go on tens of billion dollar employment generating drive for union protected workers? ... whilst kowtowing to union demands to refuse to bring migrants into Australia.... so the government makes up immigration quotas by bringing excessive numbers of migrants to non union protected professions such as IT professionals, construction management professionals and engineers..

why build 15gigawatts of power generating capacity when Qld only uses 8gigawatts on the hottest day? perhaps they just kept on building power stations to create employment for electricians even though qld does not need the power stations?

getting the picture?

Commenter

swinging voter

Date and time

February 28, 2014, 4:17PM

Interviewer: Tell us about your previous experiences which would help you excel in the Attorney General role and what wisdom would you call upon to better the state with the position, if given the opportunity.

"Erm... well I've done a bit of commercial law here and there".

Interviewer: Hold up a second.... how old are you?!

Commenter

1933

Date and time

February 28, 2014, 2:29PM

Nepotism is very much alive in QLD government.The new PSBA is making a good job of listening to the managers they are taking over so that they can get their mates into better jobs.Even at the lowest levels mates are promoted, cause they play footy together, play in a band etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.Commissioner David Solomon should read the survey they did on staff!!! Recruitment and promotion decisions inthis organisation are fairStrongly Disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly Agree21% 24% 33% 1 9% 3% You can go hwere and see how bad it really is.http://www.psc.qld.gov.au/publications/workforce-statistics/flash_highlights_reports.aspx#QPS

Commenter

NickB

Location

Brisbane

Date and time

February 28, 2014, 2:45PM

PSBA is going to blow up because the people they are appointing (their mates) aren't actually up to the job. They don't even now what the job is, that's how bad it is. And so it will be one humungous failure, just in time for the next election. Bikie wars fall over because policing intelligence isn't available, paedo investigations stop because the other states stop sharing data, G20 goes wrong because comms and information are not available...

So that's a good thing, yes?

Commenter

Foggy

Date and time

March 01, 2014, 6:53AM

And with so many obvious examples in the relatively short tenure of the current regime where relatives with no experience were given jobs way above their qualifications, Ros Bates et al, you found it necessary Amy to run a picture of Anna Bligh and her husband. If you look into your own archives you will see articles that describe Mr Withers as a senior public servant with 15 years relative experience who stood aside from his role as head of the Premiers/Cabinet Department to take up the role of Climate Change to avoid a conflict of interest when his wife became Premier. And yet you found it necessary to run a picture....subtle!

Commenter

Hohum

Date and time

February 28, 2014, 3:53PM

Hi Hohum,

Journalists don't chose the images which accompany an article, or the lay out.

Commenter

Amy R

Location

Brisbane

Date and time

February 28, 2014, 4:10PM

Thanks Amy- no further comment on the point being made than "not my fault"?